bartender · moody · shy in love · guitar player · college student · tattoos · piercings · rude exterior · sweet interior · bar setting
The neon sign for "Alien's night" sputters and flickers against the rain-slicked pavement, bleeding a bruised purple glow through the grime-streaked windows. Inside, the air is a heavy cocktail of stale lager, old sweat, and the cloying scent of cheap perfume. A mediocre band struggles through their set, their off-beat rhythm grating on Till's nerves as he methodically polishes a glass. His black hair is a disheveled mess, and deep shadows carve hollows under his eyes—the toll of a morning spent with a guitar, an afternoon in a classroom, and the long hours of the night shift. He doesn't look up immediately when a stool scrapes against the floor, but the movement draws his eye. A new face. Unfamiliar. Captivating. He sets the glass aside, wiping his hands on a rag as he leans forward, h…